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Must-Sees This Week: June 1 to 7, 2017

Karl Mattson is one of the artists featured in “Maps and Dreams,” opening this week at the Audain Gallery in Vancouver.

Lots of great art exhibitions and events are taking place across the country this week. Here are our recommendations for debuting shows and events, and a few reminders about shows that are closing. Visit our Exhibition Finder for more listings of worthwhile shows that are already open.

Vancouver

On June 1, the Audain Gallery opens a new group exhibition curated by Brian Jungen and Melanie O’Brian, “Maps and Dreams,” which brings together work by artists including Brittney and Richelle Bear Hat, Brenda Draney and Peter von Tiesenhausen to highlight land use in the Treaty 8 region.

Vernacular Canadian design gets a showing at Charles H. Scott Gallery in “Never Precious: Anonymous Design in Canada,” which brings together everything from archival Eaton’s catalogues to a Reliable Plastics Uke-a-Tune, and opens on June 6 with a reception later in the month on June 13 at 7:30 p.m.

An installation by Ebony Rose goes on view on June 3 at 7 p.m., marking a larger upcoming project, “Les Jardins,” at Unit 17. At Field Contemporary, a group of artists with wide-ranging approaches to materials, come together for “Well Look At That,” beginning June 1 at 7 p.m.

Montreal

Indigenous Contemporary Scene kicks off June 1 with four performances and a day of conversations before the project wraps June 9. One of the key questions raised by this event is, “How can we talk of reconciliation when there was really never any conciliation to start with and colonial policies are still in place?” Watch for related works by Nadia Myre, Ange Loft, Tara Beagan and Skeena Reece, among others.

At Galerie D’Este, Andy Curlowe launches a solo show that tries to capture intimate aspects of his daily life (nature, place and architecture) in his watercolour and acrylic works on paper, beginning June 7 from 5 p.m. Inuvialuit master sculptor Abraham Anghik Ruben has a showing at La Guilde, as a part of the Montreal First Peoples’ Festival, beginning June 1 from 6 p.m.

Work by André Ethier and Jasmine Reimer goes on view at Projet Pangée, beginning June 3 at 3 p.m.

Toronto

On June 1 from 7:30 p.m. to 11:30 p.m., the Art Gallery of Ontario celebrates a vision of Pride created by Syrus Marcus Ware and Kyisha Williams on behalf of Blackness Yes, who have programmed the Pride’s Blockorama stage for nearly 20 years. Highlights include artist projects by Melisse Watson, Rodney Diverlus and Ella Cooper, a special installation of artist-designed banners created for the Blockorama stage, and pop-up talks by artists, activists and curators including Barak adé Soleil.

Dylan Macaulay, whose work uses sculpture to look at urban space, opens a show at Towards Gallery on June 2 at 6 p.m. The serene, West Coast–inspired works of Takao Tanabe go on view at Mira Godard Gallery on June 3.

A range of programs hosted by Subtle Technologies kick off at Evergreen Brickworks this on June 3: look for interactive installations, artist-led cooking workshops and a tour of Indigenous plants and Indigenous histories throughout the area.

Halifax

Hermes Halifax hosts a reception for “Last Chants,” a group show wherein artists are connected by a shared studio space on Agricola Street, on June 3 at 8 p.m. On June 6 at 12:15 p.m., join the Art Gallery of Nova Scotia for a flash tour of the exhibition “Harold Edgerton: The Man Who Made Time Stand Still” with chief curator Sarah Fillmore. And this is the last week to catch Jay Crocker‘s exhibition at Anna Leonowens Gallery—last day is June 3.

Saint-Jérôme

Ottawa

Doors Open Ottawa begins June 3, and a number of cultural institutions are participating. One such example: the Bytown Museum, which has free admission June 3 and 4. At Gallery 101, a paddle-painting party and a conversation with canoe builder Pinock Smith begins on June 4 at 1 p.m., in support of the youth-driven project Chimeda – We are paddling. Also at G101, the artist collective Noxious Sector installs a “research station” in the gallery, which will allow participants to assist “researching the creation of instruments for spirit agency,” beginning June 2 at 5 p.m.

Calgary

The Arts Commons launches three exhibitions that focus on narratives that are overlooked and ignored in conventional accounts of the last 150 years in their Window Galleries space beginning June 5; the shows include work by artists Hannah Doerksen, Nicole Kelly Westman, Areum Kim, and sisters Brittney and Richelle Bear Hat.

There will be new exhibitions in Truck’s main space and in the parkade, beginning June 2 at 8 p.m.: Andrea Roberts takes over the former with a multidisciplinary installation “informed by histories of hermetic medieval nuns and early recording techniques, prints, sculptures, and sound installation.” In the parkade space, Montreal-based artist Elisabeth Belliveau exhibits three animation works.

At Stride Gallery, Toronto artist Jenine Marsh launches “always with,” a showing of new sculpture that deals with body surfaces, beginning June 3.

London

Museum London holds an opening ceremony for the Witness Blanket installation, which brings together hundreds of artifacts to mourn and remember Canada’s residential school system. The ceremony runs from 4 to 6:30 p.m. on June 1.

Winnipeg

The work of Rosalind Breen and Corri-Lynn Tetz comes together in “Golden Hour,” which opens at Lisa Kehler Art and Projects on June 2 at 6 p.m.—the showing is the final exhibition in that space. Plug In ICA hosts a talk by Costa Rican artist Federico Herrero off-site at the former Globe Cinema in Portage Place Mall on June 1 at 7 p.m.

On June 2 at 7 p.m., get a tour of “Picasso in Canada” at the Winnipeg Art Gallery led by Stephen Borys, director and CEO of the institution.

Joliette

The Musée d’art de Joliette launches a summer series of exhibitions on June 3. The opening shows include: a selection of still-life paintings by early Quebec painter Ozias Leduc; photographic works that highlight landscape and resource extraction by Isabelle Hayeur; two exhibitions from the gallery’s permanent collection and recent acquisitions; work by Berlin-based artist Oliver Laric, who questions reproduction and authenticity; and an installation that will become a public artwork by Armand Vaillancourt. The summer showing begins with a performance event by artist Dean Baldwin.

Hamilton

Liss Platt gives an artist talk in conjunction with her current exhibition, “a CONSTANT decade,” which is on view at the McMaster Museum of Art, on June 4 at 2 p.m. at b Contemporary gallery.

Victoria

The Art Gallery of Greater Victoria hosts a number of programs this week: the new exhibition “With wings like clouds hung from the sky,” brings an all-day public open house to the gallery on June 3, where artist Karen Tam will be present. Also on the books: a beginner’s workshop that explores the ins and outs of art and cultural marketing, led by the gallery’s marketing specialist Ellen Manning, on June 1 at 7 p.m., and a tour of the exhibit “Close to Home” by curator Michelle Jacques on June 6 (an admission-by-donation day) at 2 p.m.

Peterborough

Evans Contemporary launches a showing of work by late local artist Erik Loder, who played an essential role in building the region’s art scene—it begins on June 2 at 6 p.m.

Campbell River

Ahead of an opening for Emily Hill’s show “Looks” at the Campbell River Art Gallery on June 2 at 7 p.m., the collective group Vapours will perform at Big Rock, Campbell River, at 5 p.m. Also worth seeing: Hill’s show will be presented in tandem with Heavy Flow, a film by the Feminist Land Art Retreat.

Bloomfield

At Oeno Gallery, Canadian painter Milly Ristvedt, whose abstracted, colourful canvases explore the Modernist grid, launches an exhibition titled “Time Lapse,” which opens with a reception on June 3 at 3 p.m.

Our weekly must-sees, published each Thursday, are chosen from opening and event announcements sent to preview@canadianart.ca at least two days prior to publication. For listings of art openings, exhibitions and events, visit canadianart.ca/exhibitions.